


Between Breaths

by elusivelover_archivist



Category: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gap Filler, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-17 02:46:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16966236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elusivelover_archivist/pseuds/elusivelover_archivist
Summary: By FalineHan’s thoughts when Luke disappears in the trash compactor.





	Between Breaths

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Cara Loup, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Elusive Lover](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Elusive_Lover_\(Star_Wars_archive\)) and was moved to the AO3 as part of the Open Doors project in 2018. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are the creator and would like to claim this work, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Elusive Lover’s collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/ElusiveLover).

"Luke! _Luke_!"

The name was torn from Han’s throat. The Corellian watched in shocked horror as the kid was yanked beneath the surface of the murky water again. The putrid stench of the garbage nearly gagged him, his eyes teared from the fumes. But he stared hard, searching the churning surface with a desperate gaze, as if he could penetrate the muck and track the kid’s fate.

He couldn’t, and the waters began to calm. A minute passed slowly, the only sounds were that ominous, mysterious clang of metal on metal and soft Wookiee growls... and there was no sign of Luke.

The void of his presence at Han’s side struck the Corellian to the core. Unexpected, overwhelming, and profoundly disturbing. Absurd. Han Solo, a man who lived his life dangerously, knowing the risk of loss. Never attaching himself to anyone or anything except his ship and his co-pilot. Never allowing anyone to attach themselves to _him_ , too aware of the odds that they’d be gone in the blink of an eye.

And yet, the absence of this kid – this smart-mouthed and naive farmboy, who’d questioned and challenged, pricked and prodded him since he’d first sized him up across the table in that smoke-filled cantina – felt no less than a black hole opened up inside his gut. His heart pounded in fear, his mouth dry as the Tatooine desert. He suddenly couldn’t imagine Luke not at his side, couldn’t fathom never hearing that voice again, young, impatient, full of energy near to bursting.

Han glanced at Leia, saw her features rearrange themselves from momentary stun to weary resignation and acceptance, and a fury quickly boiled within him.

Well, why shouldn’t she accept the kid’s death so easily? She was a Princess, a Rebel Leader, and had probably seen hundreds of young men fight and die for Her Cause... for Her. Dying with her image in their minds, for she was their inspiration, and Luke was no different. So determined he’d been to rescue her... and that had not been for the Rebellion, nor for some part of the old man’s magic. Han had seen it in the kid’s eyes and had known that with or without his help, Luke was going to search for her in this Imperial labyrinth and was probably going to die for her as well.

Nothing new for a Princess, Han suspected, having met her kind before. One blond, starry-eyed boy was like any other. And there would always be more. More falling in love with her, more dying because of that love. She was probably cold to the crushes and only used them to fuel the rebel cannon fire. She must’ve seen death in all ist forms. She was probably immune to it by now.

Just as he had thought himself immune. But this....

 _Luke... kid_ , he said again, but this time only in his mind. Aloud came, “I’ve a bad feeling about this.” And it came tight and steely, as if he’d just as quickly wiped the boy’s death from the slate of his thoughts and moved on.

But his lungs burned inside him and he realized that he’d been holding his breath. Holding his breath, waiting for Luke to reappear, because it was impossible that the kid would not. Impossible that Han would never be so enjoyably annoyed by that presence again. Holding his breath as Luke must be holding his own in the thick, wet darkness below. But Han had not been able to bear it any longer and gulped greedily for air, however filthy it was.

 _Still_ no sign of the kid. Surely he must be burning by now too...

For all his youth and tenacious strength, how much longer could Luke last? How much longer would he survive between breaths?

Han looked at the foamy surface again and squeezed his eyes shut with only one thought, one plea he had never made before, and even now knew not to whom he sent it. But he thought it just the same...

 _Please_.

* * * * * *

“Between Breaths  
In the silence between breaths  
Oh fill me in the emptiness.”  
~Ingrid Karklins

* * * * * *


End file.
